In today’s class, we learnt how masculinity is portrayed in cinema. During the early cinematic ages, men were portrayed as masculine, rough, tough, aggressive, powerful and competent. However, in the 1970’s, the embrace of feminism directly influenced the media industry. The “New Man” was more soft and sensitive. Following the feminist era, the reclaiming of traditional masculinity backlashed the feminist and the political state America was in during the 1980’s. This decade could be best described as “remasculinization”. Nevertheless, things changed. The end of 1980’s introduced hybrid masculinity. By hybrid masculinity, I mean the combination of sensitivity, compassion, and vulnerability with toughness, aggressiveness, and decisiveness.
Masculinity was not only portrayed in the cinema, but within stars and artists. The artist who stood out the most to me was Tupac Shakur, as his masculinity was constantly being questioned because of his songs such as Dear Mama. This may be because he expressed his sensitive side by dedicating some of his songs to his mother. On a social scale, rappers and men in general are expected to be tough, heartless and tough, but Tupac wasn’t. Tupac had more of a hybrid masculinity expressed within his music. He had sensitive songs such as Dear Mama and rough-aggressive lyrics such as Only God Can Judge Me.
In the song Dear Mama, he says, “Dear mama, Place no one above ya, sweet lady, your are appreciated, Don’t cha know we love ya?” Again, we get to see his sensitive side mentioning his mom in the lyrics of his song, Keep Ya Head Up. This is evident when he says, “And I realize momma really paid the price, she nearly gave her life, to raise me right.” On the other hand, he expresses his rough side in his song Only God Can Judge Me by saying “I’d rather die like a man, than live like a coward.
All in all, Tupac Shakur exemplifies the hybrid masculinity throughout his music by mentioning the difficulties he endured and the social problems his community had. He tends to be sensitive and compassion while being tough and aggressive.
“… They say I’m wrong and I’m heartless, but all along I was lookin' for a father he was gone… Dear Mama, you are appreciated...”
